Chase

Chase will be missed.  He was an odd ball.  He was the definition of scaredy-cat.  He was round and sweet and looked a bit like a cartoon cat from a distance.  The little grey and white face on that ginormous round kitty belly.  Never one to turn down a snack... Somewhere in the depths of my old photos, I'll have to find the pictures of Chase and Grady as kittens.

My roommate when I first moved to San Francisco in 1998 brought the kittens to our apartment.  Her aunt's cat had kittens and we offered to take two of them before she brought them to the pound.  Two little boys arrived at the apartment both with milk mustaches.  Grady and Chase were a team - they haven't ever spent a night apart.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, my best friend, Nicole, moved out to SF the summer of 1999.  She and I planned on getting a new apartment closer to the city -- but we had to figure out what to do with Grady and Chase.  Nicole was incredibly allergic and if we were going to live together, the cats couldn't come with us.. My original roommate said she'd just take them to the pound and we wouldn't have to worry about it.  I couldn't do it.  I begged my Mom to fly out to California and take the cats back to live with her in Texas.  Neither my Mom or my Dad had cats growing up - and I don't think my Dad cared for cats at all really - but miraculously they agreed.  It was to be a temporary arrangement while Nic and I were roommates.  Well... next thing you know I'm living out of the country and the boys were still with my folks.  I moved home for a while then moved in with my now husband... he already had a cat and she was definitely Queen of the house.

So, we find ourselves 12 years later with both boys still living with my folks.  They developed their routines and everyone learned to love one another -- my Dad, the dog, the cats...  Chase was always the scaredy cat though - he'd go running at the sound of the doorbell or at the front door opening.  It took years before he'd come out of hiding even when I was over visiting.  But he was loved and he led a good life.  He would head butt my Mom in the morning to wake her... he'd beg my Dad for a bran flake with milk at breakfast... he'd go running from the dog.  He even learned to come out a bit at night when I was visiting.  He was a sweet kitty.  He never meowed - I'm not sure he could actually... all you'd ever hear was this teensy tiny little "mew"every now and then.  We're still convinced that the sedatives they took before the trip from CA to TX made him a wee bit "wonky"....

I'm going to miss his sweet little grey face but I'm forever glad he didn't suffer.  No one wants to watch a loved one in pain, and I'm glad his passing was swift.  Now, we just have to worry about his brother, Grady... we're worried he'll pass from heartache.  He's never spent more than a few hours away from his brother.  Today is going to be hard on him.

I miss you Chaser.  Say hi to Peanut and we'll see you soon....